Submitted

Tue, Sep 17th 2013 07:00 am

The
designer, builder and pilot of the remotely piloted vehicle used by the
National Geographic Society to make a documentary film on the War of 1812
shipwrecks of the Hamilton and Scourge, will speak at the Great Lakes Seaway
Trail "Blue Byway" event on Saturday, Oct. 5, at SUNY
Oswego.

Christopher
Nicholson, president of Deep Sea Systems International (Cataumet, Mass.),
provided his technical and engineering expertise to the filming of the two
historic schooners sank in Lake Ontario in 1812. For more than 20 years,
Nicholson contracted with the National Geographic Society on expeditions
worldwide and received NGS research grants to develop specialized underwater
vehicles, imaging systems and HDTV cameras.

The
WWII battleship Arizona, the H.M.S. Breadalbane, and famed freighter Edmund
Fitzgerald are among the other historic shipwrecks Nicholson has helped
explorers to document. His underwater engineering skills were also applied to
the Hollywood production of "Titanic."

Nicholson
presents Flying Fish awards to young inventors and artists, helps send students
to the International Science and Engineering Fair, and supports student science
fairs in the Yarmouth, Mass., area.

Nicholson
is on the 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Great Lakes Seaway Trail "Blue
Byway" program, co-sponsored by the Great Lakes Seaway Trail and New York Sea
Grant, with National Weather Service forecaster and forensic meteorologist
Robert Hamilton and New York Sea Grant coastal recreation and tourism specialist
Dave White.

Presentation
of two-tank diving destinations are also on the agenda of the Oct. 5 Great
Lakes Seaway Trail "Blue Byway" seminar, which is part of the Great Lakes
Seaway Trail Underwater Series of maritime heritage and recreation programs.

Preregistration
by Oct. 1 is $10 at www.seawaytrail.com/dive; late registration
and admission at the door is $15, as space allows. For more information, call
315-646-1000, ext. 203.

The
Great Lakes Seaway Trail is a 518-mile National Scenic Byway that offers unique
land and water travel opportunities along Lake Erie, the Niagara River, Lake Ontario,
and the St. Lawrence River. Learn more at www.seawaytrail.com.